Shifting Landscape

Though best known for his work with landscapes, painter Michael McEwan is celebrating the 30-year anniversary of his first public solo exhibition with a greater focus on urban scenes.

Michael McEwan: Landscapes and Urban Views opens Sept. 5 at Keny Galleries in German Village. It runs through Oct. 31.

McEwan came to central Ohio from Washington, D.C. in 1981, and it was three years before he had his first solo show. It was at the First Avenue Office Center, which was owned by Sandy Wood, one of the major figures in the 1980s revitalization of the Short North into an arts district.

That was in the days before Gallery Hop solidified the Short North as a destination for the arts. Gallery Hop was founded in 1985.

“That’s when I had my first studio in Columbus, and I’ve had a studio ever since,” McEwan says.

McEwan, an Upper Arlington resident, has been working with Keny Galleries owners Jim and Tim Keny since shortly after he arrived in the central Ohio, his first show at the galleries having taken place in 1986. McEwan always has a fall show at the galleries, but because this year marks a milestone

for him, he’s bringing a lot of new work to it.

“I’m doing a whole show with 24 new paintings,” he says.

Alongside several of his tried-and-true landscapes, he’s increased his output of the urban views referenced in the exhibition’s title, with his inspirations including sites in Clintonville and the north side – as well as the area around his studio, located just south of the intersection of Summit and Hudson streets.

In addition to producing his own work, McEwan teaches painting and drawing classes out of his studio. For the past four years, he has written “The Painter’s Eye” column for CityScene, analyzing important works of art at museums and collections in and around Ohio.

McEwan’s show, which will be on display in the first floor of the galleries, will not be the only one focused on landscapes. The Painterly Landscape, on the second floor, features landscape paintings by a variety of local contemporary artists: Eric Barth, Jon Browning, Ed Charney, Fred Fochtman, Jean Koeller, Neil Riley and David Terry.